Jeb Bush praises Lyndon B. Johnson

(WASHINGTON TIMES) Jeb Bush hasn’t announced whether he’s decided to run for president in 2016, but the former Florida governor promised Wednesday that if he does he will strive to govern like former Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Speaking at Saint Leo University in San Antonio, Fla., the Republican praised Mr. Johnson, not for his “Great Society” programs that conservatives blame for significantly expanding the size and scope of the federal government, but for his forceful, hands-on leadership, The Miami Herald reported.

“He went and he cajoled, he begged, he threatened, he loved, he hugged, he did what leaders do, which is they personally get engaged to make something happen,” said Mr. Bush, who recently read Robert Caro’s latest biography on Mr. Johnson, “The Passage of Power.”